A tractor-trailer truck sliced a car in two on U.S. 1 Tuesday afternoon, closing the four-lane highway for a little over two hours. Traffic was re-routed on access roads to bypass the wreck scene.

There were no serious injuries in the wreck that occurred around 1 p.m. near where Ingersoll-Rand is located. Bryan Vancleave, 46, of Southern Pines, was leaving his job at UPS when he pulled out of Air Tool Drive in front of the truck heading north on U.S. 1.

The impact separated the car right behind the front seats, sending the rear of the four-door Ford Taurus into the southbound lanes while the front of the car with Vancleave still inside rested in the median strip. The truck, driven by Deon Kennedy, 47, of Columbia, S.C., went through the median, eventually stopping in the southbound lanes.

Mike Cameron, assistant chief of the Southern Pines Fire Department, was one of the first emergency workers on the scene. He said that the department got the call at 1:07 p.m. As he approached the scene of the wreck that had sent debris spilling across the four lanes, he said that "I was thinking the worse."

"The car took a direct hit," Cameron said. "The impact was just behind the driver's door. The driver was extremely lucky. He suffered relatively minor injuries. We had to remove the roof of the car to get to him. He was talking the whole time. He was in some pain and discomfort."

Cameron said that Vancleave suffered a slight laceration and indicated his shoulder hurt. He was transported to FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital. Kennedy was not injured.

Cameron also said that Kennedy, whose truck careened from the inside northbound lane across the median and into the southbound lanes after the collision, did "a good job to keep from hitting any other vehicles" on the heavily-traveled highway.

Four wreckers were used to remove the vehicles, with three needed to remove the car and one for the truck that suffered damage to the front end. The Southern Pines Police Department is investigating the incident.

"Very fortunate," Cameron said. "The driver of the car was very fortunate."

The highway was reopened at 3:30 p.m.